Saturday, May 11, 2013

DNA databases

Scholars vigorously debate whether open-source software represents a fundamental new means of collaborative production potentially extendable to other forms of human endeavor n2 or an altruistic fringe [*140] to the dominant market-based model of production. n3 For economists in particular, this debate is intimately bound up with questions about the motivations of those who participate in open-source production. If the classic theory of IP holds--if people are rational economic actors who will create only if the expected rewards exceed the costs--then open-source production is likely to be limited to the creation of relatively low-cost or small-scale products, primarily by those who do it in their spare time out of altruism or intellectual curiosity or who are otherwise subsidized (perhaps by a government or university) to create software without being paid for it. n4 By contrast, if people are collectively motivated to create by nonfinancial incentives, or if there is a sustainable market for the provision of services ancillary to open-source products, n5 the open-source model could conceivably displace proprietary software and even extend to products other than software, such as DNA databases. n6

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About Me

I'm a patent lawyer located in central New Jersey. I have a J.D. from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Stanford University, where I studied graphite intercalation compounds at the Center for Materials Research. I worked at Exxon Corporate Research in areas ranging from engine deposits through coal and petroleum to fullerenes. An article that I wrote in The Trademark Reporter, 1994, 84, 379-407 on color trademarks was cited by Supreme Court in Qualitex v. Jacobson, 514 US 159 (1995) and the methodology was adopted
in the Capri case in N.D. Ill. An article that I wrote on DNA profiling was cited by the Colorado Supreme Court (Shreck case) and a Florida appellate court (Brim case). I was interviewed by NHK-TV about the Jan-Hendrik Schon affair. I am developing ipABC, an entity that combines rigorous IP analytics with study of business models, to optimize utilization of intellectual property. I can be reached at C8AsF5 at yahoo.com.